Johannesburg - The bank card of Dustan Blom, the man found dead in the boot of his car at Montecasino in September 2013, was used by two men other than the two people accused of murdering him, three days after his death at OR Tambo International airport, a Johannesburg court heard on Tuesday.
JP Malan and Maruschka Robinson are accused of Blom's murder. His body was discovered on September 22 at the entertainment complex by security guards who noticed a foul smell coming from a vehicle.
The matter was being heard before Judge Delize Smith at the South Gauteng High Court, sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court.
Pieter Botha, who works within the core banking solutions department at First National Bank as a manager of debit card fraud investigations, told the court that two men in possession of Blom's passport and debit card had attempted to spend R50 000 at a coin shop at OR Tambo International Airport on September 21 around 22:00.
The two men, referred to by Prosecutor Zaais Van Zyl as "the Coetzee brothers", were captured on the shop's security camera footage and could not spend that amount as the purchase would have exceeded the R50 000 daily limit on the card, as other withdrawals have been made during that day.
The two men did spend R5 600 at the shop, using a copy of deceased Blom's passport and bankcard used to make the transaction, which Botha saw upon visiting the shop as part of his investigation. Botha had cancelled the card, and another linked to Blom's account, after being notified of Blom's death by police on September 23 2013.
He corroborated earlier testimony given by a taxi driver on Tuesday, whose services were used by Robinson and Malan between September 18 and September 20, that Malan and another man, described by the driver as being coloured, had attempted to withdraw money from an ATM at a Caltex garage on Malibongwe Drive on September 18.
Blom was thought to have died on September 18.
Botha concurred with a description given by Van Zyl, looking at court documents, that two withdrawals had been attempted at the Caltex.
Earlier, the taxi driver told the court of his interactions with the pair over those three days.
'Children's toys'
The driver said on September 20, Robinson had called him to pick her up at her house, which he did, meeting her outside at the gate.
Van Zyl asked the taxi driver, whose name the court agreed not to make public, whether Robinson had anything with her.
"Well she had this refuse packet," he said. "It contained something, though I couldn't see what the contents were and she mentioned that those were children's toys."
The driver took her to Marlboro, where they met up with Malan in the Marlboro testing station's parking area, before travelling back to Randburg, where he dropped them at the Randburg Inn.
On September 18, he drove Malan around after receiving a phone call from Robinson around 08:00.
He found Malan at a guest house at 231 Surrey Avenue at around 10:00, where he was told to take Malan to Robinson's house.
'Coloured guy'
They then had to drive to another garage in Strydom Park along Malibongwe Drive, where they picked up a "coloured guy", with the driver not hearing his name.
"I stopped at the Caltex garage, then the coloured guy alighted from the vehicle and then went towards the ATM, then he came back then they had a chat with JP," he said.
"Then JP also went to the machine then. When JP came back he went into the car and he made some utterances that it was the wrong pin."
The driver did see Malan give the coloured man the card before the man went to the ATM.
The driver then took them to Robinson's house. "They alighted from the vehicle, the two of them, and they went into the house and approximately after 10 minutes the coloured man came back."
The driver said they arrived at the house between 11:00 and 12:00, with Malan also returning around five minutes after the coloured man had come back to the car.
Malan then asked him to take him back to where he fetched him, at 231 Surrey Avenue. After he dropped Malan off, the driver dropped the coloured man off in Fontainebleau.
He later received a call and went back to 231 Surrey Street, where he found another white male, who told him to take him to the Randburg Inn.
"I took that boy there and he informed me that I should wait for him. Then on his return, we drove back to where they were [231 Surrey Avenue]," he said.
"Then that boy left. From there JP told me that I should wait for him and from there I took JP to Maruschka," This happened around 14:00.
The next day, September 19, the driver said he received a call from Robinson to pick her up at her home around 18:00 in the evening.
JP Malan and Maruschka Robinson are accused of Blom's murder. His body was discovered on September 22 at the entertainment complex by security guards who noticed a foul smell coming from a vehicle.
The matter was being heard before Judge Delize Smith at the South Gauteng High Court, sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court.
Pieter Botha, who works within the core banking solutions department at First National Bank as a manager of debit card fraud investigations, told the court that two men in possession of Blom's passport and debit card had attempted to spend R50 000 at a coin shop at OR Tambo International Airport on September 21 around 22:00.
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| Two men used murdered Blom's bank card at airport, court hears |
The two men did spend R5 600 at the shop, using a copy of deceased Blom's passport and bankcard used to make the transaction, which Botha saw upon visiting the shop as part of his investigation. Botha had cancelled the card, and another linked to Blom's account, after being notified of Blom's death by police on September 23 2013.
He corroborated earlier testimony given by a taxi driver on Tuesday, whose services were used by Robinson and Malan between September 18 and September 20, that Malan and another man, described by the driver as being coloured, had attempted to withdraw money from an ATM at a Caltex garage on Malibongwe Drive on September 18.
Blom was thought to have died on September 18.
Botha concurred with a description given by Van Zyl, looking at court documents, that two withdrawals had been attempted at the Caltex.
Earlier, the taxi driver told the court of his interactions with the pair over those three days.
'Children's toys'
The driver said on September 20, Robinson had called him to pick her up at her house, which he did, meeting her outside at the gate.
Van Zyl asked the taxi driver, whose name the court agreed not to make public, whether Robinson had anything with her.
"Well she had this refuse packet," he said. "It contained something, though I couldn't see what the contents were and she mentioned that those were children's toys."
The driver took her to Marlboro, where they met up with Malan in the Marlboro testing station's parking area, before travelling back to Randburg, where he dropped them at the Randburg Inn.
On September 18, he drove Malan around after receiving a phone call from Robinson around 08:00.
He found Malan at a guest house at 231 Surrey Avenue at around 10:00, where he was told to take Malan to Robinson's house.
'Coloured guy'
They then had to drive to another garage in Strydom Park along Malibongwe Drive, where they picked up a "coloured guy", with the driver not hearing his name.
"I stopped at the Caltex garage, then the coloured guy alighted from the vehicle and then went towards the ATM, then he came back then they had a chat with JP," he said.
"Then JP also went to the machine then. When JP came back he went into the car and he made some utterances that it was the wrong pin."
The driver did see Malan give the coloured man the card before the man went to the ATM.
The driver then took them to Robinson's house. "They alighted from the vehicle, the two of them, and they went into the house and approximately after 10 minutes the coloured man came back."
The driver said they arrived at the house between 11:00 and 12:00, with Malan also returning around five minutes after the coloured man had come back to the car.
Malan then asked him to take him back to where he fetched him, at 231 Surrey Avenue. After he dropped Malan off, the driver dropped the coloured man off in Fontainebleau.
He later received a call and went back to 231 Surrey Street, where he found another white male, who told him to take him to the Randburg Inn.
"I took that boy there and he informed me that I should wait for him. Then on his return, we drove back to where they were [231 Surrey Avenue]," he said.
"Then that boy left. From there JP told me that I should wait for him and from there I took JP to Maruschka," This happened around 14:00.
The next day, September 19, the driver said he received a call from Robinson to pick her up at her home around 18:00 in the evening.
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